On November 15, 2023, in Hanoi, Industry and Trade Magazine coordinated with the Domestic Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade to organize the Conference "Developing a safe food business system". At the Conference, Ms. Le Viet Nga - Deputy Director of the Domestic Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade gave a speech on food safety management, ensuring food safety for consumers.
Ms. Le Viet Nga - Deputy Director of Domestic Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, discussed the issue of food safety management, ensuring food safety for consumers.
Food security and safety issues are of particular importance, not only affecting people's health and lives but also having a great impact on the economic development, trade and social security of each country.
Therefore, on October 21, 2022, the Secretariat issued Directive No. 17-CT/TW on strengthening food security and safety in the new situation. To urgently implement this directive, the Party Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Trade has developed Plan No. 13-KH/BCSĐ dated March 28, 2023 on implementing Directive No. 17-CT/TW of the Secretariat on strengthening food security and safety in the new situation. According to Plan No. 13-KH/BCSĐ, the development of a safe food business system includes very important tasks:
“- Strengthen communication work and organize training on ensuring food safety in the distribution stage.
- Implement safe food connection into the distribution system.
- Continue to direct the implementation of food safety assurance work integrated into regular work contents and assigned tasks such as the Campaign "Vietnamese people prioritize using Vietnamese goods", market stabilization, Project on Innovation in agricultural product trading methods, One Commune One Product (OCOP) Program, National target program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas..."
Today's Conference on Developing a Safe Food Business System is one of the activities to implement the assigned tasks of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Currently, food is circulated and traded mainly through traditional distribution channels (markets, grocery stores), especially fresh food. According to statistics, the country has 8,517 markets, over 1,167 supermarkets, 254 shopping centers and thousands of specialized stores, modern convenience stores operating according to modern chain models.
In which, the market is still the main food supply channel in the whole country. However, with the development of the economy and people's income, there are more and more modern distribution systems, developing in chains, with a large scale across the country.
Modern distribution systems such as the Saigon Co.op system have thousands of points of sale, of which the number of Co.op Food stores operating effectively nationwide is 571 stores, contributing to providing daily meals for millions of Vietnamese families with the top business criteria of "safety - convenience - freshness".
MM Mega Market Vietnam supermarket system has 21 wholesale centers and supermarkets nationwide along with 5 stations for purchasing and supplying safe agricultural and food products with 2,000 product supply partners.
WinCommerce, a large retail chain with more than 3,500 supermarkets and convenience stores in 62 provinces and cities nationwide, purchases and consumes about 83,000 tons of agricultural products each year. Of which, more than 50% are vegetables and fruits purchased from local suppliers. Big C & Go! system with 72 stores across the provinces and cities, provides diverse and fresh foods.
Currently, there is a new trend of organizing small chains of stores supplying local specialties and safe food such as the Soi Bien chain with 45 stores in Hanoi, the Bac Tom chain, the Eco Food chain, etc. contributing to the distribution of food according to the modern distribution trend, with traceability from the place of production to the hands of consumers.
In addition, the traditional distribution system has also undergone changes. Localities have stepped up the construction of pilot food safety markets. By October 2023, there will be more than 200 food safety market models nationwide.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has integrated this content into the National Target Program for New Rural Development. According to the criteria related to commercial infrastructure, areas assessed as advanced new rural areas need to have food safety market models. This content has been included in the Prime Minister's approval decision.
In recent times, e-commerce channels have been increasingly improved and received support from consumers. Many e-commerce channels also organize food safety booths in digital spaces such as Lazada, Shopee, etc.
Currently, the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy is coordinating with the Department of Domestic Market to implement the Program of Connecting the Safe Consumption of Vietnamese Agricultural Products on Cyberspace.
Ms. Le Viet Nga affirmed that food safety management and ensuring food safety for consumers is a difficult and long-term task, requiring the cooperation of the whole community.
To achieve the above results, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has implemented a number of fundamental solutions.
Communication and training on food safety have been promoted. Hundreds of training sessions have been organized, training millions of workers in the food safety knowledge distribution system. Media agencies, newspapers and television with large numbers of readers, listeners and viewers have responded to the propaganda on food safety in the distribution stage, raising awareness and responsibility of food producers and traders.
Regarding the connection of safe food in the distribution system, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has done a good job of integrating it into socio-economic programs such as the Domestic Market Development Project associated with the campaign for Vietnamese people to prioritize using Vietnamese goods, the Trade Promotion Program with thousands of supply-demand connections has contributed to bringing safe food goods into distribution channels.
Trade promotion fairs are also a channel connecting safe food products to consumers as every year there are thousands of trade fairs from large scale to regional markets.
In addition, further promoting the development of standards and criteria for food safety management has contributed to standardizing the items purchased by modern distribution systems. In addition, the application of technology to trace the origin of goods has brought food safety products deeper into the market.
Projects to innovate agricultural business methods, OCOP Program, National Target Program for Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas, National E-commerce Goods Consumption Promotion Program, etc. have created new points of sale with convenient locations, attracting consumers and tourists to visit and shop for local specialty goods.
The two-way purchase of goods for ethnic minority people also contributes to the consumption of goods in particularly difficult areas of the provinces. Many traditional markets have been built for people to bring agricultural products to consume at the best prices, bringing in income. People also have access to goods, especially essential goods from the lowlands.
Notably, one of the activities to promote the development of safe food distribution channels is the Market Stabilization Program.
Every year, about 3 months before Tet, the Ministry of Industry and Trade always issues a directive document on this issue. On October 30, 2023, the Minister of Industry and Trade issued Directive No. 13 on implementing solutions to ensure supply-demand balance and market stabilization at the end of 2023, on the occasion of Tet Giap Thin 2024.
Accordingly, food safety is a priority task integrated into the direction of state management agencies, food production and distribution units, and market management units to ensure the organization of connection and distribution of food at stable prices, especially food safety for essential goods, widely used during the Lunar New Year such as rice, pork, eggs, cooking oil, seafood, vegetables, confectionery, etc.
The amount of goods used during Tet tends to increase by 15-30% over the years. This year, according to reports from major distributors, the number is still increasing, but lower than previous years, about 7-15%.
The market stabilization program has been implemented very well in major cities, and participating businesses often have a large market share, accounting for more than 50% in their area. Therefore, this is a distribution channel that will continue to expand, contributing to protecting the health of the community, helping to stabilize the market, so that people from all economic sectors and all classes can access quality goods at reasonable prices.
Managing food safety and ensuring food safety for consumers is a difficult and long-term task, requiring inter-sectoral coordination between ministries, central and local departments, together with the joint contributions of food production and trading enterprises, the support of consumers and especially the support from media and press agencies to spread the Party and State's directives to units, businesses and people.
In the coming time, I hope that all members of the community will join hands to act and best implement Directive No. 17 of the Secretariat to ensure food security and safety in the new situation with many fluctuations, especially in the context of Vietnam's deep integration into the world economy and being significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as negative international developments.
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